Jewel Heart
by Fairybee
Summary: Kikyo and Inuyasha's romance worries Kagome, as her own feelings are now clear to her. The Sacred Jewel lies in the protected Kaede's village; an unexpected threat tries to steal it. Proper summary inside


_**AN: In a nut shell…**_

It's set shortly after the Sacred Jewel was regained by Kagome and Inuyasha, and taken to Kaede's village to be protected. (It could not be destroyed; their mission now is to figure how to be rid of the sacred jewel) Everybody is more or less the same age, and have all the characteristics they usually have. I think I couldn't write without the same style the anime and manga are scripted with, mainly because I miss the whole series _loads_, so I hope you don't mind Tell me what you think too, I haven't got it all written out so any ideas and feedback would be great. In this particular part Kagome worries like crazy about Inuyasha's feelings for her, and thinks that his feelings for Kikyo will never die, And so forth..Ok that was more of a large coconut shell actually. I'll shut up now (:

Chapter 1

**Feudal Era**

Inuyasha sat soundlessly asleep. Kaede's hut was still just about warm, and the smoke of the fire was dancing its way out of the chimney.

Kagome lay sleeping on her side in what Inuyasha called a 'torture sack' (her sleeping bag) with Shippou tucked by her side. Kaede slept next to them snoring gently under a blanket, occasionally rolling from side to side.

Sango and Miroku, however, lay on the floor at opposite sides of the room. Inuyasha could still sense the awkwardness from those two, he was almost sure that Sango's angry expression still hadn't left her face after the return from a women-run village.

The stars were bright, shining on the trees and houses and the wind was gentle. It was a quiet summer's night.

The sound of approaching footsteps made Inuyasha's ears stand up with a start. It was only a second later that his hands flew to his back and grasped his Tetsaiga, staring rapidly around the room. _This scent…_he thought. It was more then just the sound that woke him up.

Without hesitation he stood up onto his feet and drew his sword before him.

"Who's there?" He demanded.

A silhouette appeared before him on the window, forming the shape of a woman. The scent drew stronger. The door to the hut was casually opened, and in a walked a lady no other than Kikyo.

"Inuyasha." She said.

He slowly lowered his blade.

"Kikyo…why are you here? What's happened?"

She entered further into her old sister's home and glanced at the others asleep on the floor.

"…you're not alone." She said. "I suspected that they would have returned by now."

"There's still other stuff we have to do, but-" He started.

"Inuyashsa," Kikyo said. "Come with me."

He didn't know why, but he followed Kikyo out into the night. It was a long time since him and Kikyo had spent time together in this village. It was strange.

They stood at the bottom of the shrine entrance. Kikyo seemed in a daze and Inuyasha was as bewildered as ever. _How did she find me? What's she doing wanting me to follow her at this hour?_

Her head lowered, her long black hair draping over her fragile face.

"What could of led to this…?" She said quietly, her voice fading.

"What?" said Inuyasha surprised, turning to her.

"So much pain dealt, all for the power of the sacred jewel. So many things taken away, so much hate spread throughout people. How did it come to this?"

"Kikyo…" Inuyasha said, not sure of what to say. "What do you…?"

"What we had, Inuyasha...an understanding. A desire to be together as humans. How far away does that seem, yet here we are – the same people with the same hearts, on the very spot where I died fifty years ago."

The wind rushed through her hair, brushed past her pale cheeks, yet Kikyo found it hard to feel alive. She wasn't alive.

"Kikyo, I-"

"No." Her voice trembled, holding in the feelings she so longed to be rid of. She held out her hands in front of her. "This isn't me." She said. "It's just…clay…"

Inuyasha's heart felt heavy as he saw Kikyo this way. Never in their time had he seen her so…sad. He approached her, took her hands in his and stared into her eyes.

"Of course it's you," He said firmly.

The two stared at each other. The same faces. They were the…same people they were then. There was so much hatred inflicted upon them, but…

"We're here, aren't we?" He said quietly, letting her go, looking up at the sky, almost shy at his own thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"Naraku wanted to taint the sacred jewel with the hatred we had for each other. We are both supposed to be dead, it's the way he planned it. But…we're not." He paused, and turned to her.

"We're here. Naraku didn't win, so there's no reason to feel as though anything's been lost."

"Inuyasha, I-" Kikyo begun.

"If none of this happened, we wouldn't be the people we are now."

Kikyo shot her head round and stared at him, her eyes sharpening.

"You want to know what keeps me alive, now, Inuyasha? My hatred for you. This reincarnation of myself lives solely on the feeling of hatred for you. I am not who I want to be."

Inuyasha looked startled. "Do you hate me, Kikyo? You know the truth, yet you are alive, which means the hatred for me has still not left you?"

"My life is fading. If I can't fulfill my purpose, I am useless. I find it hard to hate someone who I…cared for, and suffered with. Therefore, I am not needed. The jewel is tainted enough, and my duty here is done."

Kikyo wandered from the shrine entrance to a familiar spot. Inuyasha's eyes widened as painful memories recalled him. It was all so clear.

"_Die, Inuyasha!"_

_Kikyo stood next to the one tree in the forest, eyes sharp and bow aimed, ready to fire. Her target was fast, but no match for the Priestess. Filled with hatred from the betrayal that burdened her, she pulled back her arrow, thinking nothing other then killing the boy who made his way into her heart, who she had falsely trusted as being somebody who loved her._

_Inuyasha ran through the Forrest, confused, angry, holding the Sacred Jewel for a reason he did not know, or want. He lost Kikyo; he knew he could anger her and take the Jewel as a last resort for himself. He had changed. He would no longer become the human that that woman had almost made him become. He would become the powerful, full demon that he had always dreamed of._

_He stopped as he heard the two words escape from Kikyo's mouth. Was she really going to kill him? Why did she hate him that much, to betray him and kill him? He had no time to think, only to move. He had to try, he ran, faster, and got ready to jump once more by a very old tree. The face of Kikyo, the woman he had so much cared for, appeared through the trees. The expression on her face was not just intent on killing him, but she was angry, so angry. He turned to look at her in his jump, just as the arrow was fired._

_He tried to reach out for the Sacred Jewel, but it fell from his hands in front of him as the Sacred Arrow pierced through his robes and into his chest. His mouth and eyes widened._

"_Why, Kikyo?" He asked with his final breaths._

_From what he saw she was not hurt. At least she's okay, he thought. I met her and fell in love, that was good enough; the boy's final thoughts carved a peaceful expression on the his face, as his body lay limp against the tree which he would be sealed to, for however long he did not know._

"KIKYO!"

Inuyasha shocked back to reality as the past finally left the present.

In an instant Kikyo was by his side, holding him up and keeping him on his feet.

"I will not let your life end again!" He said fiercely. "I will always protect you." He threw his arms around her, and held her close to him.

"I won't let you go again." He whispered in her ear. "I won't."

"Inuyasha…" Her arms held him close too, and the world around them seemed to disappear.

"Please…if I… feel this way…not hating you… is one thing…if I love you how I did...how I do…I don't know how much more this body of mine can take…" Kikyo managed.

"You are not here to hate, Kikyo. You are not that person." Words from Inuyasha's mouth escaped him as he refused to accept the truth.

"We cannot be together, Inuyasha." She cried. "What we once had…can never be restored…"

Inuyasha's expression changed.

"I WILL defeat Naraku. I will. I won't let him hurt you."

"I am a cursed woman. Naraku, dead or alive, will not affect the fate I have. Please, Inuyasha. Do not be afraid to fall in love again. I will always love you, with all of this soul…no one…can take away what we had…and shared…I…I thank you, Inuyasha."

"Kikyo…" He leaned in and kissed her cold lips.

She stopped. The lifeless body she had been in suddenly changed. Her lips that could not feel, her tongue that could not taste, glowed inside and she felt…Alive. She felt the cold of the night against her skin. The wind in her hair. The warmth in her body. The words…_"Of course it's you," _repeated in her head as she rose off her feet, a spinning light circling her, leading her into the sky.

"KIKYO!" His screams did not reach her, as much as he tried.

He saw the mouthing of her lips, the way she tired to say his name, her final words…"Inu…yash...a"

And with that, her body, like the Jewel she had died for, turned into millions of shattered pieces of clay, fading away as the wind carried her on her journey.

Inuyasha sunk to the floor, smashing his fist against the ground.

"DAMMIT!!"

He cussed and swore, until his breath ran shorter, and his fist ached. All that he could do was to stand on the very place where she disappeared, and hold back the tears he had never wanted to shed.

**Kagome's Era **

Kagome awoke with a start, Inuyasha's pain and Kikyo's words still fluttering in her mind.

_Not again_, she groanded, wiping a tear off her face. She reached to her shelf and grabbed her alarm clock. 3:08AM.

She shook some sense into herself.

"It was just a dream, Kagome," she said, rolling back over in bed.

She closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep, distracting her thoughts with school work and exams.

"Just a dream."

--

**AN: **If you would like to me type up the next chapter please let me know

Any suggestions welcome! :D


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